From Press Release:
MELBOUNE, APRIL 30, 2026 – Developer Effort Star and publisher Joystick Ventures are thrilled to announce that Enter the Chronosphere, the upcoming turn-based tactical bullet hell, will be launching into Early Access on Steam on May 14, 2026 for only $14.99 while in EA. This comes on the back of a well-received Steam Next Fest demo that helped showcase the game’s innovative stop-and-start playstyle.
What to expect in Enter the Chronosphere:
Move-when-you-move tactical mastery: you may be in bullet hell, but you’ll have time to plan through some truly slick maneuvers
Five biomes, each with their own weapons, gear, bosses, and unique challenges: explore areas with inspirations ranging from Australiana to the classic sci-fi insect hive
Three playable characters: select from Marcia (last human in the whole universe), Urtar (a bear!), or Lillypilly (a cool frog)
Procedurally generated chronospheres: every run begins with a selection between three procedurally generated spheres, which will have different missions and modifiers
The game was originally inspired by classic roguelikes, and asks the question: “What if you took the gameplay off the grid, and showed the player what was happening?” Exploring this question revealed frenetic action gameplay that remains deeply tactical, while having an extremely low barrier of entry for new players.
Effort Star will share more details on what is planned for the game through its Early Access period closer to launch.
About Enter the Chronosphere
In Enter the Chronosphere, nothing moves until the player does. Between turns, bullets hang frozen in mid-air and enemies wait, showing their next move. Act, and everything moves together. Shoot, move, reload, dodge roll, use an ability. Stop, and everything else does, too.Features:
- Six characters bring their own abilities, from Urtar’s enemy-launching Kinetic Surge to Marcia’s clutch dodge roll, plus unlockable tactics that any crew member can use.
- Every biome brings unique enemies, objectives, and items.
- Gear and skills from different worlds stack into crazy builds that shouldn’t work as well as they do.
- Unlock new abilities, threats, and secrets in the game’s between-run hub, The Starseer
For more information on Enter the Chronosphere, visit https://www.joystickventures.
com/portfolio/enter-the- chronosphere. Find the game on Steam.
About Effort Star
Effort Star is an indie game developer based in Melbourne, Australia with a gameplay-first approach to design. Their penchant for facilitating individual play styles is paramount to their game design philosophy, promoting learning and player growth via personalized gameplay to creatively solve procedural problems and overcome in-game obstacles.About Joystick Ventures
Joystick Ventures is a California-based investing and publishing company whose main goal is to encourage indie developers to stay honest and promote experimentation to push the limits of game design across all genres, styles, and geographies. They are most known for titles like StarVaders, Antonblast, Lost in Play, Mandragora, Chicken Police: Into the HIVE!, and upcoming games including Enter The Chronosphere, Trailblazers, WILD Tactics, and Runeomicon.###
